Proceedings of the Workshop - United Nations Office for Outer ...

SESSION FOURExpanding Global Remote Sensing ServicesDiscussion PaperExpanding Global Remote Sensing Services:Three Fundamental ConsiderationsJoanne Irene GabrynowiczDepartment of Space StudiesUniversity of North DakotaGrand Forks, North Dakota, USA 58202-9008gabrynow@space.eduIntroductionAs with all space activities, remote sensing was begunduring the fear-filled days of the Cold War. It wasdriven, in large part, by motives of national prestige andpower. The international legal community responded byaddressing the questions of law and equity to whichremote sensing gave rise. The response included therecognition that while remote sensing technology wasdetermined by national needs and goals, the activityitself was, by nature, a global one and occurredsimultaneously in the two different legal regimes ofspace and Earth. The resulting law includedinternational as well as national interests; equity, aswell as law; and the interests of sensed states, as well assensing states. For a brief period of about 20 yearsthese initial legal responses - while never consideredfully adequate - did establish some fundamentalprinciples by which nations agreed to be governed.In the 1990's, the advent of commercial spacebasedsystems - an unthinkable option during the ColdWar - has revitalized the legal debate and highlightedsome of the recognized inadequacies of the internationalremote sensing legal regime. The attention fromindustry, government and academia has been intense,raising dramatic questions. What legal protection isafforded to commercial remote sensing data? Willprivate systems function like spy satellites for hire?Will private systems be governed by international law?The legal community is once again engaged inthese, and other important questions. Details of legalframeworks,1data access,2 intellectual property,3 andmore are all within the current legal dialogue. However,while the critical specifics of these and related issueswill continue to engage the legal, scientific, andindustrial communities for many years to come, thereare still legal fundamentals in need of consideration andaction. It is the purpose of this paper to raise three1Project 2001 Working Group on Remote Sensing, LegalFramework for Commercial Remote Sensing Activities -Proceedings of the Project 2001 Workshop on Legal RemoteSensing Issues. Toulouse, France, (1998).2 Committee on Issues in the Transborder Flow of ScientificData. Bits of Power Issues in Global Access to Scientific Data.National Research Council, National Academy Press,Washington, DC, (1997).3 European Space Agency, Workshop Proceedings IntellectualProperty Rights and Space Activities. European Space Agency,Paris, (1995).